Is stocks' recent run another leg of bull?

10:22 PM,
May 13, 2013

Traders work the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.

Written by

Adam Shell
Gannett

NEW YORK -- Has the bull finally delivered a knockout punch to the bear?

The stock market is breaking out, putting old highs and one-time market peaks in the rear-view mirror. The melt-up has powered stock portfolios back into the plus column for any investor who stayed invested through the go-nowhere, sideways market that stretched from 2000 through early 2013. The record-setting run has also sparked a debate as to whether a second leg of the bull market is underway on Wall Street.

Stock market mania is back in 2013. The Dow Jones industrial average has soared above 15,000 and is at record ...